If only the Detroit Pistons were one of those gutted teams trying to build from ground up under new leadership, which in this case is Stan Van Gundy.

At least they would have an early pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, which is considered the best and deepest in years.

And they could put together some sort of calculated and detailed plan for the future.

Instead, Van Gundy and the Pistons find themselves between a rock and a hard place.

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Rock bottom would have been the far better option.

The Pistons essentially traded a first-round draft pick and Ben Gordon to merely get rid of his contract to free salary cap space, which they wasted.

It’s left Van Gundy without a first-round choice for this coming draft or any real base for a solid plan.

One of the rare draft picks the Pistons did hit on, big man Greg Monroe, is a restricted free agent this summer. The Pistons must keep him. He is an excellent player, whose skills are already starting to erode from playing on a poorly coached team, and for a mismanaged organization fit together like a bad jigsaw puzzle.

So pay Monroe, right? Keep him. Real simple. Pair him with the super talented Andre Drummond – and the Pistons will have the best inside presence in the NBA and take off.

Oh, except there is the rest of the team. It’s a tremendous strength to have excellent “bigs,” but not so good when there is nobody there to get them the ball or defend the perimeter. Brandon Jennings, the point guard the Pistons are apparently stuck with, is, at best, an erratic ball distributor and wildly inconsistent shooter. There is the matter of big money free agent Josh Smith. He is a power forward, who failed as a small forward.

There are two enduring visuals of the 2013-14 Pistons. One is of Smith jacking up an endless stream of 3-point shots, the other of Jennings being all over the place as he moves down the court like a malfunctioning drone.

And that’s before you get to the Pistons’ biggest issue: They are as effective defensively as the Washington Generals vs. Harlem Globetrotters.

How old is Meadowlark Lemon? 82? He’d still have a field day yucking it up against the Pistons.

Van Gundy won as a coach in Miami and Orlando. The knock on him when the Pistons hired him is that he has all the power in regard to the basketball operations. The general manager part of his duties are new to him.

But given the current state of the Pistons, it will be Van Gundy’s skill as a coach that will actually be put to the test.

His hands are essentially tied as a GM by bad decisions from the past. He has no choice but take ingredients for mush and try turn them into caviar.

Can he make Smith an effective “3?” Can he garner consistency from the erratic Jennings? Can he turn Drummond into the dynamic off-the-ball defender he hasn’t been? Can he bring out the best in Monroe?

In other words, can Stan Van Gundy fit square pegs into round holes?

Wish him best of luck.

He is going to need it.

About the Author

Pat Caputo has written as a beat writer and sports columnist for The Oakland Press since 1984 and blogs at http://patcaputo.blogspot.com/. Reach the author at pat.caputo@oakpress.com
or follow Pat on Twitter: @PatCaputo98.